Mother's Day cards

Well, I guess you can tell I took these pictures with my phone. Our camera got dropped down some stairs and then dumped into the washing machine, so I didn't have anything else to take them with. We just got a new camera that is WAY nicer than anything we've ever had before, and I'm sure you'll be able to see the difference in future posts! ;)

My card base is Blushing Bride, and the layers are Crumb Cake and Regal Rose. The floral images were stamped on Vanilla. Pink Pirouette ribbon. I fussy cut Wonderful Mother sentiment.

My friend asked me to make her mother a card. She said her favorite color was purple and she likes flowers, so this is what I made. Wisteria, Crumb and Limeade were used. 

  The flowers are the Boho Blossoms with Wisteria, Lilac (long retired) and Plum.

 I added some random attributes from the Fabulous Phrases set. 

Here you can see I scalloped and layered the bottom of the card. 

I sponged everything with Crumb Cake.

Hope you're inspired to make your mother (or a mother you think is wonderful) a card this year. 

~Natalie

Step-It-Up with Nature's Walk

Hello again! This is the last (planned) post of my little Step-It-Up series. 

~I've been having so much fun with these, I will definitely be making more soon! 

This time I used Nature's Walk.

Version 1:

Card base is Naturals White. The bird is in Not Quite Navy, butterfly is Regal Rose, eggs are Always Artichoke, bees are Soft Suede and cage is Sahara Sand. The edges are sponged with Suede.

Version 2:

I stepped it up by stamping the bird and cutting him out (sponged him liberally), and stamping the eggs on a banner trimmed with a little Ribbon Border punch using Suede cs.

 Version 3: (My all-time favorite card!)

Oh bother! I don't know where to start! :) How about from the top down?! 

I stamped the butterfly on Very Vanilla, for a more crisp image and then sponged it. (The Naturals cs are more porous, like a watercolor look and I wanted to be sure the wings were more detailed and crisp.)

I stamped another birdcage and cut it out using the Framelits die. ~Don't forget to sponge! :)

 The Victorian Trim is taped to the card base, formed to mimic the egg banner, onto which I added a Ribbon Border trim to the top. And then the Itty Bitty punching began. 3 of each color: Naturals White, Crumb Cake, Regal Rose & Not Quite Navy. Then I sponged them all (which was a little work, even for me) and poked a hole in the center of 2 sets and strung them on a safety pin from Vintage Trinkets. The last 4 flowers I added to each edge of the banner. Did I mention I sponged everything?! Haha!

I hope you like this card as much as I do! 

I'll probably try to keep it, but I'm leaning toward sending to my Grandparents for Grandparent's Day in Sept. That should be long enough to drool over it. (I'll probably end up copying it anyway.)

Have a great weekend!

~Natalie

In case you missed the other posts, they are HERE and HERE and go check out Betsy's video HERE.

Stepped Up with Elements #2

Version 1:

I used the Creative Elements set again, mostly because it lends itself well for this kind of 'layering'.

The colors are Soft Suede, Perfect Plum, Not Quite Navy and Always Artichoke. (The sentiment label is Espresso, but as you'll see further on, I left that part off the rest.)

On Version 2, I kept the stacked Artichoke edges by layering them on banners. I wrapped them twice in Linen Thread (LOVE that stuff!) and popped the flower on Dimentionals. 

(I realized a trick this weekend: when you make a banner and want it to 'ripple' a little, place a Dimensional or 2 in the middle and tape/glue the ends down. Ripple! -maybe I'm the only one that didn't think of this..)

Version 3:

Oh my, I love this card! To this one, I stamped and popped the butterfly (I'm thinking of added pearls for her body..) and decided to put some Vintage Trinket brads in the left corner for balance.

I added a Bitty Button to the Linen bow (can you tell there's a Bitty flower behind the button? probably not, and that took some figuring out! Any tips would be great!), and an Artichoke Little Leaves behind the flower.

I sponged all the edges in Crumb Cake, for a softer look than my usual Suede.

Stay tuned! My all-time favorite is coming up! ;)

Thanks for looking!

~Natalie

As in the previous post, recognition and inspiration go to Betsy and her post HERE.

Stepped Up with Elements

I will say right out: 'This was not my idea!' Here is where I got my inspiration! 

Over the next few posts, I will show you some Step-It-Up cards.

This uses the Creative Elements set and is stamped on Very Vanilla in these ink: 

Rose Red, Marina Mist, Perfect Plum and Crumb Cake. The variation of colors you see are the same inks, just stamped over and over.

Here is the stepped-up version:

You can see I stamped the edge, flower and butterfly in full strength and cut them out.

 The flower and butterfly are mounted with Dimensionals, and the pearls add just the right touch!

I liked the clean and simple look of this card, so I didn't sponge or distress any edges. (I know, out of my comfort-zone! haha!)

Hope you like,

~Natalie

Other Crafting..

So lest you think I did nothing in April, here's a little look at some projects and life...

Handmade washcloths. This is only 6 of the 11 I ended up making, plus 7 scrubbies.

 Sewing some dresses for my daughters. (They are still not done.)

 Teaching the kids to ride bikes without training wheels! 

My son (age 7):

 My daughter (age 6):

 My Youngest Daughter (age 5):

I foresee a very active summer! 

A friend and I have even decided to take up running! We figure with the kids on bikes, it will be motivation to keep up!

~Natalie

Retired for Donation

This week I had the opportunity to donate some things for door prizes at the mom's group I've been attending for the last 6 years. (This was my last year.)

So of course, I chose some old stamp sets and made a couple sample cards.

Sorry I didn't take a picture of the set. I was pressed for time.

Very simple design. So Saffron cs and DSP. Limeade Baker's Twine.

The image was stamped in Black Stazon on Vanilla cs, then colored with markers and a Blender Pen. I used the marker end of Daffodil for the petals and the pen end of Limeade to outline the leaves, then blended the Limeade inward.

This one I had a lot of fun making, and after I was done, re-thought giving this set away. lol!

Card base is Espresso, with Espresso DSP, run through the Big Shot with the Manhattan EF, then sanded the embossed design and sponged the edges.

The sentiment is stamped in Suede, cut into a banner and sponged with Suede. I just got the Vintage Trinkets, and I'm wondering what took me so long! ;) Love them! This little button is a brad! 

I was going for a Sepia look, so the rose image is stamped in Espresso ink on Vanilla cs and colored with a blender pen using Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and Artichoke inks. Don't forget to sponge! ;)

Linen Thread is wrapped twice and tied in a bow. 

Sorry it's been so long between posts. April was crazy busy! 

~Natalie

Birthday girl!

Sorry about the absence. 

My 'baby' turned 5 years old last week and we had a big party full of family and friends! All totaled, we had 13 kids and 12 adults. But for once, I was prepared and organized and got to relax and have fun, knowing everything was done!

What do you think? Does she look like me?! Haha!

Lighting the candles... Well, actually the lighter wasn't working, so we had to get another! (too funny!)

So I'm a dork... (we've established that!:)... and forgot to take pictures of the invitations. 

They were Pumpkin Pie and Concord Crush. They had 5 balloons and a cupcake, with doubled ribbon on the bottom. Here's the card I made for her. It's got the same ribbon and colors.

I love these Framelits! How could you not?! And an Embossing Folder does wonders for extra texture.

I cut the twine extra long, so after I tied the first bow, I took the ends and tied another bow on top. You can't try to fidget with either bows, though, or it will come loose! 

Here's the inside. Note that the balloon is embossed with the Polka Dot EF, too! :)

Have a great Easter Weekend! I can't believe it's Friday night already!

~Natalie